Lace T-shirt Redo

Posted in clothing, diy by peppermintsandhoneybees

Hello all I hope your are enjoying the beginnings of fall! Sorry for the long absence. As you may or may not know, I started grad school At Columbia College in Chicago and to say that it is taking up most of my time would be an understatement! So…if my posts are far and few between lately you will know why. No fear though, I’m still here and still blogging, I just don’t have as much free time to diy. Any ways I have this t-shirt DIY that I actually made quite a while ago and just never got around to posting. It’s quite simple if you have a sewing machine and a shirt you don’t mind ripping apart. I got the idea from this awesome diy blog Trash to Couture.

All you need is:

a t-shirt
seam ripper
sewing machine plus pins, scissors etc.
lace or crocheted trim. (Mine is from Joanne’s Fabric)

First cut the very edge off of the sides of the shirt including the sleeves. Don’t cut too deep, you want your shirt to still cover you. measure out how much trim you will need before you but it. Mine took about 3′ for both sides. you want to lay the open shirt out and measure from the bottom of the front to the bottom of the back. after you buy your trim pin in onto the shirt edge and sew it in place.

Next you want to sew the front and back together again but remember to leave a whole for your arm. I would leave a good sized hole so the shirt flows. And there you go!

3Sep2015

Lemon Mulberry Chia Pudding

Posted in Food by peppermintsandhoneybees

I’m ashamed to say that even though I’ve been putting chia seeds in my morning smoothies and in my tea and occasionally in Greek yogurt, I haven’t tried to make chia pudding until now. Chia Seeds are packed with nutrients and aid in digestion so they are understandably one of the current health food crazes, but they can also be made into a delicious and healthy dessert. When they get wet they get a gelatinous membrane around them that thickens whatever they are in.

I didn’t realize how easy it was or how many different variations you can make. I found this version from The Healthy Maven. That version was for lemon raspberry chia pudding but I had mulberries instead of raspberries so I improvised and it was still delicious.

The ingredients are:

2 cups coconut milk (or almond milk)
4 1/2 tbsp. chia seeds
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
The juice and zest of 1/2 a lemon
1 cup Mulberries, raspberries or well any type of berries
1 tbsp. honey or agave

Combine all the ingredients into a large container or jar, stir it up, and refrigerate over night.

It will be very runny at first but it’ll thicken up, I promise! Eat it plain or with more fruit and/or granola. You can add anything and I cant wait to try some more versions. I think pomegranate seeds would be good, or maybe strawberry kiwi. Let me know what you come up with!

27Aug2015

Carrot Cookies

Posted in Food by peppermintsandhoneybees

I actually found this recipe in the little booklet that came with my ninja blender. It looked good (and easy) so I thought I’d give it a try. It looked good and has carrots so its sorta healthy right?

It was super easy and fast to make since I just added all the ingredients and blended them. You definitely don’t need a blender to make these though.

The ingredients are:

3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs of flax eggs
2 cups flour
1 cup grated carrots
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 Tbsp. coconut oil

The last two ingredients I added to the recipe. Just combine everything and drop teaspoon sized amounts onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 8-12 minutes and that’s it! It was supposed to make 36 but I got about 28. (I made some a little bigger)
These are nice because they aren’t too sweet, although I think they would be good with honey drizzled on them. I was going to take some to work but Ben likes them so much he didn’t what me to! I’ll have to make more. 😉 Anyway, enjoy!

24Aug2015

Roasted Beet Hummus

Posted in Food by peppermintsandhoneybees

I’ve been super excited all week because we bought a Ninja blender/processor last weekend. It even mixes dough so brace yourselves for the food posts! It’s kind of funny the things I get excited about now that I’m an adult but whatever now I can make more of my own food. It’ll be cheaper (maybe) and healthier!

The first recipe I tried out was for this beet hummus. Now if you don’t like beets this probably won’t be for you, but if your like me and love them then I’ve this a try. It’s fast and easy!

Ingredients:

I can of chickpeas (hominy)
Cooked baby beets about 4
1 juiced lemon
2 or 3 tbsp. tahini
2 tbsp. olive oil
Pinch of salt
1 tsp. paprika
2 cloves minced garlic (I used the squeezable kind)

Now you don’t have to have a fancy pants blender for this, just a regular blender or food processor will do if it’s big enough. Just combine all ingredients and blend till smooth. Now mine was still a little chunky which is fine, but if you want it perfectly smooth you might want to blend the chickpeas before adding the rest of the ingredients. It only takes a few minutes and is delicious!

Sometimes I buy beet hummus from Whole foods but now I can make my own and it makes a ton! Also I can control what’s inside so I don’t have to worry about any preservatives or chemicals. The original recipie that I looked at was from The Year in Food.

Enjoy!

30Jul2015

My Vacation Photos

Posted in My Life by peppermintsandhoneybees

I went on a vacation to Portland, OR last week so I thought I would share some of the photos with you. We went hiking at Mount Hood one day and drove down to California on my birthday to see Redwood National Park. It was a great time and we feel like it went to fast, but I missed my cats too!

Hiking around Mount Hood

Ramona Falls

Mount Hood

Crescent City, CA

Redwood National Park

I found Paul and Babe!

We had to go to Voodoo donuts!

29Jul2015

Painted Shirt

Posted in clothing, diy by peppermintsandhoneybees

I used my Portland vacation for my photos. 😉 I’ll post the rest next.

I had an idea for a graphic shirt without screen printing. (although I’ve been wanting to try screen printing) I used a white tank top and used a plastic bag over cardboard to paint on. I used watered down craft paint, but only water it down slightly because it will run. This is also why you should keep your imagery simple. I love the way it turned out and what says Summer better than watermelon!

I should mention that I didn’t actually paint on the carpet, and I wouldn’t recommend it!

23Jul2015

Bird Feeder Save

Posted in diy, Gardening by peppermintsandhoneybees

Last Fall I may have gotten into a minor turf war with one of the squirrels that was stealing bird food. They were good all summer and only ate what the birds dropped but then they got greedy ad found out they could crawl up the brick wall to get to the feeder. After I slapped one on the tail when he didn’t leave I came home the next day to this.

Yup, that’s all from one day. This was personal!

Anyway I really didn’t want o have to throw out the feeder and tried to still use it but the bird seed would spill out when the birds sat on it. I got the idea to glue a plate into the bottom to catch what was spilling out and then the birds could also have a place to perch again.

So far this seems to be working and no squirrels have gotten in yet this year. I’ll probably get a new feeder eventually, I just like to reuse if I can and I was afraid they would just ruin a new feeder too. Bird feeders aren’t exactly cheap! Hopefully everyone can coexist peacefully this year. 😉

P.S. We’re in Portland, OR right now on vacation for my birthday today so I’ll probably be posting pictures next time!

16Jul2015

Perler Bead Card

Posted in craft, diy by peppermintsandhoneybees

So every year for the past few years I have been making my own cards for my uncle’s birthday because I can never find good uncle cards. I’m close with my uncle and they’re all so impersonal! I had an idea to use perler beads, I used to make things with these as a kid. You just iron the design! I attached it to card stock and stamped the “happy birthday.” I got the design from Makeandtck on iconosquare. I forgot how much fun these little beads are and I’ll have to come up with some more projects for them! Also here is the embroidered card I made last year.

9Jul2015

I joined the Air plant club

Posted in Gardening, home by peppermintsandhoneybees

I’ve actually been wanting an air plant for a while after seeing them all over Pinterest. One of my friends bought some at the Renegade Craft Show in Chicago last summer and while one died she said the other one was pretty easy to care for after she got the knack for it.

According to articles I’ve read the best way to care for them is to submerge the actual plant in a glass of filtered water for a couple hours and let dry on a paper towel after that. Do this once a week or so. I’ve had mine for a couple weeks now and this seems to work so far.

If you are new to air plants they don’t need soil because they don’t have roots. They get their nutrients from the air. (hence the name) They like bright but filtered light best so as long as you keep this in mind they are extremely easy and fun to display. The possibilities. Are endless and here are some fun examples I found on Pinterest from Centrogarden, Buzzfeed, and Decoist.

I put mine in a little terrarium with some sphagnum moss and fish rocks. The glass ornament is from Joann’s. I bought it last winter after Christmas on sale. I’m going to hang it with jute and hang it up somewhere.

6Jul2015

My Fourth Of July Weekend

Posted in My Life by peppermintsandhoneybees

Hello, I hope you all had a great weekend. If you live in the U.S. then you probably celebrated the Fourth of July with fireworks or a barbecue, but whatever you did I hope it was great! Here are just a few photos of my weekend. Ben and I went to Madison, WI for a concert Friday night so we stayed the weekend and hung out in Madison which is a very cool artsy city. We watched fireworks on the lake, ate cheese curds and just walked around. This is the second time we have been to Madison and we love it! also they have a pretty nice contemporary art museum. Have a good week everyone, let me know what you did for the 4th.